Please break your essay up into the following component parts, highlighting the various parts of each paragraph as follows:


Thesis: dark blue
Topic sentence: red
Opinion/analysis: light blue
Supporting detail:purple
Commentary: green
Transitions: pink

Introduction: After reading the opening paragraphs of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood the author portrays a unique view on Holcomb Kansas. Capote's use of descriptive detail, imagery and tone all help exaggerate the authors view on Holcomb Kansas. Capote describes Holcomb as a small, lonesome, ordinary, lonesome town.

Body Paragraphs: Throughout the passage, Holcomb uses imamgery to describe the run down town of Holcomb. Capote's description of the Santa Fe Railroad, Highway Route 50,and the towns "apartment houses" are al types of imagery expressed through Capote. Through the authors use of imagery, the reader can fully understand and picture Holcomb through the imagery and detail being portrayed. Capote also creates vivid imagery when describing: the Holcomb population, the wide farm land whith animals grazing and "clear blue skies and desert air". Capote makes Holcomb sound like an undersirable place to live because of all the rundown and isolated buildings and the surroundings, including the "brown stretch of the Arkansas river". Another element that characterizes' Capote's view is descriptive detail. Capote constantly uses descriptive detail throughout the passage to create visions for the reader. Throughout the paragraphs, capote uses great diction and sensory details to describe important land marks in Holcomb. The description of the streets is a perfect example of the authors detail. " After the rain, or when snowfalls thaw, the streets, unnamed, unpaved, turn from the thickest dust into the direst mud". The previous quote is a perfect example of the immense detail the author uses to help exaggerate the desolated town. Other uses of detail can be found in the descriptions of the Holcomb bank and the Holcomb School, both very well known buildings in the town. Capote describes the bank with a flaking gold on a dirty window, which was later closed in 1933. The Holcomb school was also described with immense detail, "good looking establishment, which reveals a circumstance that the appearance of the community otherwise camouflages". Caopte describes the school as very large and teaches grades kindergarden through High School which might imply it is the only school in the town. Capone's tone is the last element that influences his view on Holcomb, Kansas. Capote's tone is informative but unformal. Capote's use of diction also ties into his tone because he makes the reading sound boring at points. For example, Capote refers to the population living there as "Kansans", his vocabulary is very casual which makes it less intresting. Another example of his tone can be found at the end of the passage. Capote says, " The inhabitants of the village, numbering two hundred and seventy, were satisfied that this should be so, quite content to exist inside ordinary life". This particular quote falls back onto Capote's view of Holcomb as just ordinary.



Conclusion: In conclusion, Capote uses descriptive details, imagery and tone to portray his views on Holcomb. The use of these particular literary devices characterize his views on Holcomb, Kansas.